Yoko Ono
by myapplemonkey
Summary: Every great band seems to have one. For McFly, that's Kensie. About four years ago, Harry threw everything - the band, his friendships - away for her. Now, brokenhearted, Harry turns to his former band and best mates.
1. Prologue

_**disclaimer: **I don't own McFly  
_

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

Harry Judd remembered the night they met as if it had happened yesterday. His girlfriend of the past three months had recently broken up with him, so the guys had decided they were going to take him out to the pubs so he could back into the swing of things.

They arrived at the usual place about twenty minutes later than they had planned, so the place was already jumping. But, as Danny Jones was well known in the pub area, he got them in no problem.

"Ay," Danny cried, returning to the table the band members had commandeered for the course of the night, a pitcher of beer in one hand, four glasses in the other, "there's a bird checking you out, mate!"

Seeing as Harry was the only one currently at the table, he knew Danny had been talking to him.

"Two o'clock, by the bar," Danny added, shouting so as to be heard over the crowd in the pub.

Harry looked up just as the unnatural blonde started making her way towards them. Danny quickly poured himself and Harry a beer, and then was gone before Harry was able to even respond. And then, the girl was at the table quicker than Harry would have imagined with the crowd as thick as it was.

"Hey," she said, smiling. "I saw you from across the bar, and thought to myself, 'I must say hi to that bloke'. So here I am. I'm Kensie."

She had a beautiful smile, Harry noted. After taking a sip of his beer, he opened his mouth to speak. "Harry," he replied, a smile forming on his lips. "Did you want a drink?" he added, offering to pour her some of the beer that sat on the table between them.

I might have been a bit of an awkward start, what with Harry having been a bit broken hearted, but they soon hit it off. He forgot all about his previous girlfriend, all thoughts being focused on his new girlfriend, the girl he promised after a month of the two dating he would marry someday.

And just like that, a little more than four months after having met Kensie, Harry proposed, and three months later, they were in Fiji, relaxing on their honeymoon. The rest of the guys, while happy for the couple's whirlwind romance, couldn't help but think it was all happening a bit fast – Harry had only known Kensie a little more than seven months, and now they were _married_?

By the end of their first year together – married or otherwise – Kensie and Harry were expecting their first child – the first of anyone in the band – and everything changed.

"I don't think this is the life a child should be forced to grow up in," Kensie told Harry for what felt like the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes, but was really a week. "Neither of us had to grow up in the spotlight like our child will undoubtedly be forced to do, so we won't know how to properly protect him – her… the baby! – from all of it." She'd been on this point since she had found out she was pregnant – the point that she thought Harry should leave the band.

He had been able to hold his ground firm that he wasn't going to leave the band, no matter how much he loved Kensie and their yet-unborn child, and they would figure out a way to make it work. But with how she was now in tears and how sure she was that she didn't want her – _their_ – baby to have to grow up in the public eye, he was seriously considering it.

"Give me some time, Kens, this is a big decision," he replied, kissing her cheek, and then left the house.

Four months later, Harry announced his departure to the rest of the band. They were shocked and surprised, to say the least. When Dougie Poynter got over the initial shock of what Harry had just told them, he got angry.

"All this for some… some – some _bird_ you a little more than a year ago?" Dougie shouted. "I thought better of you!" With that said, he ran from the room, tears threatening to spill from his eyes and slammed the backdoor, make the sound reverberate throughout the rest of the house.

"I'm really sorry about all this," Harry said to Danny and Tom Fletcher in Dougie's wake. "Look, we've – _I've_ – been thinking about this for a while now. I don't think it's the best idea to raise a baby in the public eye. And I want to be there to watch my child grow up." He stood, and then went on, "I love this band, and I love touring, but we've been doing this for a long time now, and I think it's time I grow up. I'm sorry if I've hurt you – that was never my intent – but I need to do this for my family, for _me_." With that, he walked to the front door and out.

A couple weeks later, the band's consequential end was announced to the public. The papers weren't ever properly told as to why McFly broke up, but speculations were made around two major topics: Harry Judd's relationship with Kensie; and Dougie Poynter's quickly growing publicly aware anger towards Harry Judd. All in all, the papers suspected that it was something to do with Harry, they just weren't certain of what it was.

About three months after the band's announcement, the papers were finally calming back down on the matter. And Harry and his wife had – very privately – their child, a son, Connor. As Harry held his newborn son, he tried not to think of everything he had given up to get to that point in his life. He especially tried not to think of the band, especially not Dougie.

Soon after baby Connor was born, the small family moved out of the city, to a place near where Harry had grown up, to begin their quiet, peaceful, private life as a new family.


	2. Years

_**disclaimer: **I don't own McFly._

* * *

**YEARS**

Harry had gotten used to his new life. After all, he'd been living it for three years, nine months now, and he loved every second of it. Sure, he missed the band from time to time, but whenever his little boy told him about something that had happened to him while he'd been at school, or whenever he saw the smile his little girl often wore, he'd forget all about whatever it was he'd been worrying about.

Harry had a great life. He was a stay at home Dad, only working whenever he felt he wanted to, not when he needed to. He had a small studio in town, employing a few fellow retired musicians, where they taught music. His son, Connor, who would be four just before the end of the year, had recently started school. He seemed to be really enjoying his new found freedom, his new playmates. His daughter, Elizabeth – or Libby – would be one in a couple weeks. Harry was busy planning the party that he and Kensie were throwing for her – he couldn't believe how fast his baby girl was growing up.

The only problem Harry had was that he wished his wife Kensie was around more often. Since she had a full-time job, which involved travelling for work, the couple sometimes went days without seeing or talking to each other. Other than that, everything in Harry's life was great.

It was Friday evening now. Connor had been asking for the past few weeks if he could have a sleepover with some of his mate from school – I told him that if he helped out with Libby, kept his room clean, and didn't get into any trouble at school for a whole week, he'd be able to have them over. At first, it had tricky for his to grasp the concept of being "good" for seven whole days, but after a few slip ups, he had now gone almost two weeks – the extra weeks simply to ensure he kept his reward – the sleepover.

Now, thanks to the sleepover, rather than the two kids under four Harry had grown accustom to, he had five under five – Connor was the youngest of his friends. Harry had had to look after five kids before, but he had never done it overnight. To say he was overwhelmed would be an understatement. Luckily, as Kensie had been out of town all week for business, she would be home within the next few hours to help him out with the kids.

Connor's friends arrived just minutes before the pizza – an added treat for both Connor and his friends and Harry – came. Sitting the four three- and four-year-olds down in the living room, each with a slice of the pizza, he put a movie on to keep them entertained while he got the baby – already fed – ready for bed and awaited the arrival of his wife.

"Whoa, Con," Harry said after leaving Libby's room, where she was just starting to fall asleep, as he caught his son around the waist as he was about to fly by with all his mates, picking him off the floor in the process. "Where're you going, little buddy?"

Connor squired – Harry put him down, but held him there with a hand on his shoulder as he bent in front of the small boy. "To my room?"

"But we just moved all your toys and your bed downstairs an hour ago for your sleepover. There shouldn't be any reason your up here."

"But the basement's scary!" Connor cried, his friend's echoing his statement.

"Would it help if I came down with you?" Harry asked, a smile threatening to appear – he was trying to make sure his son and friends didn't think he was going to make fun of them because of there not actually being anything in the basement to be afraid of – he himself had been afraid of his own basement when he was Connor's age, so who was he to judge?

Nodding enthusiastically, Connor began pulling his Dad away from his sister's room and towards the door that would lead them to the basement, where most of the sleepover was to take. After opening the door, Harry turned on the light and led the way down to the basement. Humouring the small children, Harry checked around the room, ensuring them that there were no monsters in any of the spaces. He turned on a couple extra lights, and even threw bed sheets over the washer and dryer so the monsters couldn't get into the room through one of them, either.

Satisfied that the children would be content – after all, they were now all playing with some of Connor's toys across the room – Harry headed back upstairs, leaving the basement door open enough for any of the children to be able to get out, and so he could still hear them from the kitchen and living room.

Before Harry grabbed a couple slices of the leftover pizza for his dinner, he went and cleaned up the traces of his son's sleepover, turning off the movie while the credits were running up the screen, and putting the paper plates the group had eaten off in the rubbish.

Two hours later – an hour after Connor's usual bedtime; Harry had extended because of the sleepover and because of how good Connor had been lately – after getting the kids ready for bed, a few telephone calls home to say goodnight to their parents – for most of the kids, it was their first sleepover outside of their families – and putting a movie on for them to fall asleep to, all four kindergarteners were asleep in their makeshift beds in the basement. Harry was also still waiting for Kensie to arrive home.

He would have called her, but since she was flying into London and driving back, he wasn't sure if her phone would even be on. As it was, he found some mundane – if slightly boring – things he had to do so he wouldn't have to do them later, when the kids were awake.

Just before ten, he heard a car pull into the drive, the garage door sliding up at the same time. The ignition turned off as the garage door slid back down, a moment passed and then the door opened before quickly closing again. A couple minutes passed before the door leading to the garage opened into the kitchen, reveling Kensie.

"Hey, Honey," Harry said from the attached dining room, finishing up what he was working on. A moment later, appeared in the kitchen in front of her, kissing her cheek. "How was your trip? You were in Glasgow, right?"

"It was okay. Very busy – I didn't even get out of the hotel the whole time except for when I was coming from and going to the airport."

"That's a shame. It's a great city." Harry helped her out of her autumn coat, hanging it on the hook by the garage door. "Say, you're home awfully late, aren't you? I was expecting you home a few hours ago."

"Yeah, well, the, uh, aeroplane got delayed leaving in Glasgow. I would have called, but I forgot to charge my mobile last night. I'm sorry about that. Connor was having a sleepover tonight, wasn't he? How's that going?"

"Alright, but it would have been better with you. Libby had a bit of temperature today, too, so I was trying to deal with that and keep Connor and his mates downstairs so she could sleep. I could have used a little help, is all," Harry replied. He didn't mind that Kensie went out of town almost every week, whether it was just to London, or if it was to somewhere further, but it would be nice to be able to see her more often – which included getting some extra help with the kids – especially when one was ill and the other had multiplied – so to speak – by four.

"I'm sorry I have a _career_, Harry!" she said, sounding frustrated. "I'm sorry I've got to go out of town every now and then. I'm sorry I don't have a lot of time to see my _kids_. God, Harry, I don't have time for this!" She had sounded as though she was getting upset, and by the end, she was shouting.

Without having realised it, Harry had moved over to the basement door – still slightly open – and eased it shut, so as to not wake the kids. He didn't know what had made her so upset, but he would have done anything – _anything_ – to make her happy again.

Except, that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Before he had a chance to say anything, she told him she was going to bed. And that he could sleep on the sofa, for all she cared.

* * *

_**an:** thanks for your reviews. :3_


	3. Words

_**disclaimer: **I don't own McFly._

* * *

**WORDS**

They had never gotten into a proper fight before. Not one that she told him to sleep on the sofa. And especially not one that he didn't know what it was even about.

When Harry woke the following morning, Connor and his friends were all staring down at him. "Daddy," Connor began as Harry sat up on the sofa, "why are you not sleeping in your room with Mummy?" His friends nodded their agreement.

"I guess I just fell asleep on the sofa, Con," Harry answered, evading the truth, knowing his son would drop the subject soon. "You boys hungry? How about you go play downstairs so I can check on Libby and make you breakfast, and I'll call you up when it's ready. How does that sound?"

Harry yawned as his son and friends bounded off, back down to the basement to continue their playing. He tiredly made his way to his daughter's room, who he found happily awake – and in her mother's arms.

"Harry," Kensie began, relatively calmly, "as soon as Connor's little friends leave, you can too."

He couldn't believe his ears. What had happened since she had been gone that had changed to make her feel as though he shouldn't be allowed in his own house

"B – but why?" he stuttered.

She stood out of the rocking chair and walked to the door, carrying Libby with her. "I don't think I want to be married any more. Not to you."

"What do you mean you don't want to be married?" Harried asked dumbfounded. Because of Libby and the boys downstairs, he wasn't going to raise his voice – she wouldn't either, but she was using it to her advantage. "And what on Earth do you mean by 'not to you'? Why don't you want to be married to me any longer?" The desperation to know and to keep their marriage – their _family_ – together crept into his voice.

"Harry," she began, exasperated, "I haven't been happy in a long time. I thought you could figure that much out yourself." She pulled out a frying pan, butter, and the pancake batter they always seemed to have in the refrigerator and began the grueling task of cooking while holding Libby, who was in a phase of needing to be held whenever she was awake – she would scream if she was put down while still awake – except when she was in the car, as she loved car rides.

"I need some space and time to figure everything out," she continued, switching Libby to her other hip.

Harry took Libby from Kensie, giving his daughter a kiss, and started out of the kitchen. "Haven't you had enough time and space with going out of town so often?" he muttered. But he hadn't been quiet enough, as Kensie threw the spatula she had been holding – pancake and all – near to where Harry had been, missing him by only a few inches.

He couldn't believe how calm and rational his next words, because inside, he want to have a full out fight with the woman he loved more than anything. And it was all because of the children. "Honestly, Kensie, you could have hit Elizabeth!" He turned back around and left the room.

Four hours later, the kids had been fed, changed, given an hour to play and half an hour to clean up the toys, and then Harry drove Connor's mates home, bringing Libby along for the ride, knowing she would love it.

When Harry and the kids arrived back home, Kensie was waiting in the kitchen. There was a suitcase at her feet. "Run along, Connor. Mummy will be down in a couple minutes to help you bring your things back upstairs," Kensie told their son as she took Libby from her husband. As soon as he was out of the room, she continued, "I've packed a bag for you." When Harry didn't make to leave, she looked at him like he had just done something incredibly disturbing.

"Can't I at least say goodbye to my children?"

"Fine." She handed Libby back to Harry. "Connor! Come say goodbye to Daddy!"

Harry was just tickling Libby, wanting to hear her laugh, and kissing her when Connor appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Where's Daddy going?" he asked his parents. "Daddy never goes anywhere, Mummy." And he was right – Connor's whole life, Harry had never once gone out of town without the rest of the family. That was Kensie's job.

"Daddy had some things he needs to take care of in the city. You won't see him for a while, so say goodbye to Daddy, Connor."

"Bye-bye Daddy. I'm gonna miss you, Daddy. Will you call me every day, like Mummy does?" Connor said as Harry picked him up in his free arm. The boy wrapped his arms around his Dad's neck, pressing his face into his chest.

Harry held both his children close, not wanting to let go of either, but knowing Kensie was going through something and wanted him out. "Of course I'll call, little buddy."

"I love you, Daddy," Connor added as he was put back down on his feet. Kensie took Libby from Harry.

"I love you too, Connor. Make sure you're a good boy for Mummy – help her out by keeping your room clean and with Libby, okay? I'll be seeing you, Connor." Harry placed one last kiss on each of his children's foreheads, grabbed the bag Kensie had packed for him, and headed out to his car.

As he sat in the car, he thought about where he could go. There wasn't a hotel or anything in the town, and his studio in town wasn't supposed to have anyone staying in it after hours. Sure he had some mates, but he wasn't the closest with them, so didn't want to just drop in on them. Instead, he decided he would, as Kensie had said he was, head into the city and stay at one of the many hotels there.

* * *

That night, as Harry got into the taxicab, he told the driver the address to the house he had lived in when he and Kensie had first married. As the driver pulled into the neighbourhood, he quickly corrected himself, remembering as he saw some of the somewhat familiar house that he didn't live there anymore.

The car pulled up to the requested address a moment later. After throwing a small wad of notes into the front of the cab, Harry stumbled out and to the front door, tripping on the way up the stairs of the porch.

It was as he was banging – loudly – on the door that he remembered that he barely knew the family that lived within anymore. In his drunken state, he had forgotten what he had done to the best mates he had ever had.

Right there and then, he wished he could take everything – well, _almost_ everything – back. He wanted to make everything better between him and his old mates, he needed to make it up to them. He had ruined everything.

He was lost in his memories when the door opened from the other side. Harry hadn't realised he'd been using the door for support until that moment, causing him to – almost – do a face plant on the floor on the other side – if it hadn't been for his friend – the one he hadn't see in more than three years.

"Harry?" Tom asked, pushing the other man back onto his own feet. "Wha – what are you doing here? It's nearly half three – you could have woken everyone up, you realise? Aw, you reek of alcohol!"

It had been while Tom was speaking that the tears started down Harry's face. When Tom broke off, Harry started blubbering. He apologised for everything he'd done, everything he should have done, and everything that had gone wrong with both the relationships he had neglected with the band, and the relationship that was falling apart with Kensie. Harry needed to let every pent up thing out before he could move forward.

* * *

**_an: _**_thanks for your reviews, they keep me happy, as cheesy as that may sound. :3_


	4. Drunk

_**disclaimer: **__I don't own McFly._

* * *

**DRUNK**

There was a little girl looking down at Harry when he opened his eyes. He didn't recognise her as any child he knew, but she looked completely familiar all the same, like he had known her all his life – even though he knew he hadn't.

There was a headache pounding beyond his temples, which was only made worse with the toddler opened her mouth.

"Daddy! Who is on the sofa?" she hollered before toddling away.

Harry sat up, not recognising where he was – at first. After about three milliseconds, all the memories of the countless times he had spent in the room, in the house, he was currently in, came flooding back to him.

"He's an old friend of Daddy's," Tom was explaining to his daughter as Harry looked over to the doorway, where he found the two. "Daddy needs to have a little talk with him, so why don't you go help Mummy in the kitchen, alright?" Tom put her back down on her feet – not before giving her forehead a peck – and she was off again.

"Here." Tom had moved towards where Harry was still waking up on the sofa, thrusting out the coffee-filled mug he held. "That was quite a lot to taken in at 3 AM, you realise? Did you really mean everything you said?" There was the smallest of smirks playing on Tom's face.

After taking a sip of the hot brew, Harry sighed. "I'm really sorry about all this… I can barely remember coming here, let alone what I said."

"Well, let me see if I can refresh your memory." Tom sat down further down the sofa before beginning. "You told me you were sorry you broke up the band, how you reacted to telling us you wanted to leave, how you didn't make it up with us – especially Doug – before basically dropping of the face of the planet. Then you went on to explain just how much you loved and missed each of us – let me just tell you, it was a _lot_. You apologised for not keeping in touch over the years and missing and our children growing up, that you missed your kids – a _lot_, even though you'd only seen them in the morning.

"You said you screwed up, said that a little after you and Kensie and the baby moved out of the city, she took a job that required her to go out of town a lot – one of the biggest reasons she didn't like the idea of you being in the band – how something switched in her recently, and she threw you out.

"Did I get everything?" Tom checked after taking a breath.

Harry had had his head in his hand. When Tom finished telling him what he had drunkenly said the night before, he looked up. "Look, man, I really am sorry. Just call me a cab, and I'll be out of here before you even know it." Harry made to move, but the hand that was suddenly on his arm caused him to freeze mid-move.

"You're not going anywhere. Like I said to Brie – and I don't lie to her – we're going to talk about this. Dan and Doug don't have to know anything about it, but that was a lot you said last night – too much to just forget – and if you really mean everything, then we really need to work through it, talk it out."

"I – I meant everything," Harry stuttered. "And while everything is important, nothing is more important to me than being able to see my kids grow up – I've never been way from Libby for more than an hour or two, so not having seen her and Connor since yesterday morning? It's been killing me."

"Harry, mate, I get it. When Briella was born, it was the best day of my life. And then when Nathan came along, I don't think I've ever been happier. I would give anything – _any_thing – to make sure that they grow up well, ensuring they get anything and everything they need. I also know what it's like to be away from them for a few days – I've been there, too –"

"I can't deal with this right now," Harry said, cutting Tom off while jumping to his feet. "I'm sorry about everything." Before Tom was able to react, Harry was out the door and own his way.

* * *

A week later, Dougie woke with a sinking feeling growing in his gut. There was lots of loud banging coming from the direction of his front door, and while he was trying to will his body to move, he was frozen in his bed.

"Doug," Lara – his wife of nearly four and a half years – mumbled, half asleep, from the other side of the bed, "go get rid of whoever's at the door."

"I'm working on it," he replied sleepily.

"Dougie?" She was suddenly more awake now, pushing up in the bed so she could see his face. "Is everything alright?"

He hesitated before replying. "It's just that Tom mentioned the other day that he'd seen Harry Judd earlier this week."

"And… you're still not over everything that happened when he left," she concluded. "Oh, Dougie – I don't think it'll be him. And even if it is, we'll get through it together. Alright?" While she spoke, she pulled him with her, hugging him. Releasing him, she then pulled him out of bed and down the stairs.

As the couple was passing the large front-facing picture window in their living room, Dougie stopped, pulling Lara down with him onto the sofa just in front of the window.

"What are you doing?" she asked, startled.

"It's him. It's Harry," he cried, looking frantic. After a moment, he reached for the telephone.

"Who on Earth are you calling at this hour?" she loudly whispered, but the receiver was already pressed to his ear, the line already connecting.

"This better be an emergency." Tom sounded tired, but awake when he answered.

"Harry's outside. He's banging around out there."

"I'll be there in a couple minutes."

In the three and a half minutes – Dougie timed it – between getting off the phone with Tom and when he arrived at theirs, Harry had fallen silent. After gently knocking on the door and calling out his presence, Dougie opened the door for Tom, Lara standing just behind him.

"You know, he's going to hate himself even more in the morning if he wakes up in yours," Tom mentioned, knowing that Dougie would hate having Harry in his house, but would let him stay anyways because he was kind to his friends, even if they had betrayed him.

"I'll be back in a few hours," Tom said as way of goodbye after having helped Dougie bring in the seemingly always drunken Harry and placed him on the sofa.

* * *

_**an: **Thank you for the beyond amazing feeling I get when I read your reviews. :)_


	5. Return

_**disclaimer: **__I don't own McFly_

* * *

**RETURN**

For the second Sunday in a row, Harry woke up in a room in a house he had many memories in, with a hangover that could put a guillotine to shame, with a Fletcher stood over him.

Upon seeing his former band mate for the second time in such a short time after having not seen him in years, Harry jumped up.

"You know that talk you refused last week? We're having it. Outside, now." Before Harry had even a second to react, Tom was already gone.

Harry quickly followed after him, only coming to a stop when they reached the back deck. He wasn't sure what he had expected when Tom told him they were going to talk, but it wasn't the other two members of their former band – which was exactly what greeted him outside.

Dougie sat in a lounger at the far end of the deck, looking as though he hadn't slept much – Harry wouldn't have been surprised if that was fact. Even though it was his house, Dougie looked like he was the one who wanted to leave the most.

Danny, though still most of the way across the deck, relaxed on a chair closer to the open door. Tom took a seat at the table, where three retired mugs now sat empty of their contents, giving Harry the impression that they had been out her for a while.

Harry sat in one of the deck's other chairs, looking highly uncomfortable and panicked.

"What are you doing here?" Danny demanded. "Tom told us what you said last week, but you suddenly decide to leave the band almost four years ago, we don't hear anything from you in all that time, and then – _bam!_ – you're here twice. What is going on?"

Harry remained in a tentative silence. He had an idea – a very _good_ idea – of how the others felt towards his wife. She had been the band's own Yoko Ono, and had helped to mess everything up with their former band.

"Kensie wants a divorce," Harry began, thinking back to the conversation he'd had the previous day. Unable to look away from his hands, he continued, "She said she doesn't want me around my kids, either." As he spoke, tears started spilling down his face, unable to be contained any longer.

"Mate," Tom began, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, "with news like that, you could have just called or come over. There wasn't any need to get completely smashed and scare the… everything out of Doug… and Lara."

Dougie shot Tom a glare. "Sorry," Harry mumbled to his former band mate and best friend.

"Now, while we're all really sorry about that, Harry," Tom went on, "there's really nothing we can do about it. That's on you and Kensie." Tom paused a moment before continuing. "Okay, well, we need to figure everything else out."

"Look, guys, I'm really sorry about the way I left things. I was being stupid and irrational, and I thought I was doing the right thing for my family. But almost every day since I walked away from the band, I've regretted it. I mean, I love Connor and Libby, and I love seeing them every single day, but I never should have given what we had up.

"And when Kensie suggested I give up my lifestyle of being a travelling monkey – her words – I honestly had no idea that by that she meant that only I had to stop travelling for work, and that she would turn around and get a job where she's away just as – if not _more_ – often than the band would have taken me.

"God. I don't know if I can express just how sorry I am for everything."

"You turned your back on us," a small voice piped up after an elongated pause. The former band all looked to where Dougie was now sitting up on the lounger. "It was one thing to turn down the band, it was another, completely different thing to turn down our friendships. To hide away like you did, to not let us still be a part of your life – to not be part of _our_ lives – that's the part I find hardest to forgive and forget."

"There were so many times I wanted to call you," Harry replied, seeming to find his hands interesting once again. "But after the first couple months, the voice in the back of my head kept relaying the same message, over and over again, about how it was too late to call you – I had made my decision, and now I had to live with it."

"But you didn't have to," Danny replied rationally. "I for one wouldn't have cared if a decade passed before you called and I would have gladly accepted it. Dude, we've _missed_ you." There was a brief pause before he continued. "Dougie's been upset with you most of the time you've been away – he used to tell us how much he hated you at the beginning – and while he hasn't said so in a while, I know he's still upset with you. But I know, deep down, he's missed you just as much – if not more – as Tom and I have."

"It's not that we needed the band, but we needed each other," Tom added. "Honestly, the band was fun, but growing up with you lot has made the whole thing worth it. If it weren't for this ragtag group we have, that band wouldn't have been what it was. Those _friendships_ we had, that's what made the band what it was. Those same friendships are what made us who we were – who we _are_."

* * *

A few hours later, the lads had come to a decision. While it would take more than just a morning making up and fooling around – almost like old times – they were well on their way to recovery.

Harry was told that he was moving out of the hotel room he had been staying in and would move in with Tom – no Dougie – no Danny until everything got straightened out with Kensie and the kids and he got back on his feet again.

"Georgia, Alex, I'm home," Danny called as he and Harry walked through the front door of his house after having picked up Harry's things and car from the hotel and driven back.

"Say 'hi Dada', 'hi Dada'!" Georgia cooed at the infant as she helped the infant walk. She almost let go of the little boy's hands when she saw Harry standing there. "Harry! It's so lovely to see you again!"

"Dada!" the little boy crooned, pulling free of his mother to clap his hands excitedly. Just before he tumbled to his butt, Danny swooped him up, tickling his tummy. The infant's giggles echoed in the small room.

"Georgia, beautiful as always," Harry replied, smiling at the family in front of him before placing a kiss on her cheek and giving her a hug.

"Harry," Danny broke in, a smile spread across his face, "this is our son, Alexander. Alex is my favourite guy in the whole world!" It was evident that Danny was proud of his beautiful son – beautiful partially because he had his Mum's good looks, even with the reddish-blonde curls that topped his head, but also because of the parents he was lucky enough to have.

* * *

**_an: _**_thank you. :x_


	6. Children

_**disclaimer:**__ I don't own McFly._

* * *

**CHILDREN**

On Tuesday morning, while Danny and Georgia got some extra sleep they weren't used to, Harry brought Alex with him to the kitchen, planning on making the couple breakfast as a way of saying 'thank you' for letting him stay with them.

The plan backfired slightly when Georgia, in a bit of a tizzy, dashed into the kitchen, having not known where her son was. When she saw that the baby was giggling happily with Harry while he cooked, she collapsed into a chair at the table.

"Sorry, Georgia," Harry spoke as he turned around briefly to see her. "I'm used to Connor walking me up pretty early, and I just figured, you've done so much for me – what with letting me stay here – that I thought I'd get Alex here" – he bent in front of the baby, tickling his tummy, inducing a fit of giggles from the boy – "and make you both – _you_ in particular – breakfast."

"That's so sweet of you, Harry," she replied before seeming to fall back to sleep on the table in front of her.

A few minutes later, a still mostly asleep Danny wandered into the kitchen. He rubbed his son's head in passing and then went to kiss who he assumed was his wife – but was actually Harry.

"Mate, what are you doing?" Harry asked, pulling away just in the nick of time.

Danny's eyes snapped open. "Oi, you're not my wife!"

"Eeh?" Georgia's head lifted off the table, only to become supported by her hand. "You making out with guys again, are you?"

"Ay, there you are, beautiful," Danny responded. Before he joined her at the table, he poured each of them a cup of coffee, bringing them to her at the table before kissing her cheek and sitting down.

"Thank you, Harry," Georgia smiled, as she cleared away their plates when they finished the breakfast – pancakes - a half hour later. Sitting back down at the table with Alex, she said, "Show us some pictures of those wonderful kids of yours!"

Chuckling, Harry pulled out his mobile, and opened the photo album containing all the pictures of his young children.

As he was showing Danny and Georgia the picture, his mobile started to ring. Taking it back from Georgia as she held it out to him, he pushed the 'talk' button and pressed it to his ear.

"Harry? Harry are you there?" It was Kensie, and after he responded, she continued, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I can't figure out anything to do with this birthday party you've been planning!"

"I'll finish up the party as long as you stop acting so ridiculous. I need to see my kids, Kens, they need their father, too."

"I know. And I'm sorry. Of course you can see them, I don't know what I was thinking – honestly!" She paused before adding, "And Harry? Hurry back, okay? There's not much time left."

"Fine. I'll see you this afternoon. Tell Connor and Libby I love them," he finished before ending the call.

"Everything alright?" Georgia asked, looking up from Alex to Harry.

"Yeah, Kensie's just having some trouble finishing up the plans for Libby's birthday this weekend," Harry explained.

"Oh, is it her birthday, too, this weekend? Alex's is on Saturday."

"Then he's a day older than Libs," Harry concluded.

"Oh, wow," Georgia sighed. "You'll bring the kids to Alex's party?"

"We've missed enough already as it is, so we wouldn't miss it for the world. As long as you bring everyone along on Sunday."

"I'm positive that will be doable," she replied, smiling and handing her son to her husband. "Danny, it's your turn to change his nappy."

* * *

On Saturday morning, after having taken the few days prior to finalise the plans for the party the next day, he loaded Connor and Libby into the car and headed back to London. The drive only took a little more than an hour, but by the time they reached Danny and Georgia's, both kids were asleep in the backseat.

As the car rolled to a stop, Connor jerked away. "Are we there, Daddy?" he asked, excitement, over being at a birthday and at spending the whole day with his dad, in his voice.

"We are. Can you gently wake Libs for me, please?" Harry requested before climbing out of the car. When he opened the backdoor, Libby was smiling up at him, while Connor leapt to the ground at Harry's feet. Ensuring Connor wouldn't run off, Harry quickly got Libby out of her car seat, and together, the three headed inside to where the party was.

Connor ran off as soon as he could, finding some other kids about his age to play with. Harry brought Libby with him over to where Tom was with his wife Giovanna.

"Harry! I'd heard you were around! It's so great to see you!" Gi jumped up and hugged him. "This must be Elizabeth! Hi, sweetie!"

"It is. Libby, can you say 'hi' to Gi? Say 'hi', Libby." Obliging to Harry's request, his daughter waved at the lady in front of her.

"Awe! And where's Connor?" Harry pointed to where his son was playing with the other in the middle of the room. "Oh, he and Brie are playing together! Isn't that sweet?"

"It is. Is this little guy Nathan?" Harry asked as he put Libby down on the floor next to another baby as he tried to crawl away from his parents.

"Oi, come back here, Nate!" Tom murmured as he pulled the little boy back to the blanket they had on the floor in front of them.

"How old are they now, Gi?"

"Little Nate here," Gi began, brushing his thin blonde hair out of his eyes, "is about seven months. And Brie's three and a half. I can't believe how fast they grow!"

"Tell me about it." At the new voice, Gi and Harry – Tom was preoccupied with the children he was playing with – turned, finding Georgia. She was helping Alex walk, taking him to see all the people already at the party. "I'm so glad you guys could make it!" she added, picking Alex up as he started to fuss a little.

When Alex began to focus on Libby, Georgia sat down with Tom and the babies, introducing her son to Harry's daughter. After a few minutes, adding that Danny was around somewhere and that they would be back later, she took Alex and continued to make her rounds.

"Is that Harry I see? Not completely drunk and making a fool of himself?" a female voice from behind him asked. Harry and Gi turned to find Lara with Dougie, a baby carrier in his hand.

"I really am sorry about that. I promise it won't happen again."

Lara just laughed. "No worries, this little one would have gotten us up five minutes later, anyways." She carefully lifted the small baby out of the seat.

"And who's this little angel? She can't possibly related to Dougie, she's much too cute," Harry said, cooing down at the little girl in Lara's arms.

"Thanks, mate," Dougie smirked. To someone who didn't know them, the comment might have come across as an insult. But to Dougie and everyone else it was a compliment, focused at the infant. "She's called Brylee Starr – or simply Brylee – BS for even shorter." The smirk remained on his face as he told his friend his daughter's name.

"That is cute – kind of weird, but still cute," Harry laughed before Lara offered Brylee to him. Graciously, he took the small infant in his arms. "About how old is she?"

"Three and a half months, right, Honey?" Dougie replied checking with his wife before kissing her.

"That is correct!" Danny sang as he bounded over. "What am I saying is correct?"

"How old my daughter is, you cheeky monkey," Lara replied. "And you were both right. You finally got it right, Doug!"

"Alex!" Georgia cheered as she and Alexander toddled over. "You found Daddy!" Georgia put her son down with Libby and Nate, where he focused much of his attention on the little girl.

"I think _someone's_ got his first crush!" Tom laughed as they watched the babies play together.

* * *

_**an: **baby!mcfly :3  
thank you._


	7. Wife

_**disclaimer: **__I don't own McFly._

* * *

**WIFE**

The next afternoon was basically the same thing, with the only major differences being the location and the crowd. And that Kensie was there. To say it was a little tense between everyone was putting it mildly.

Ever since everything had gone down about four years earlier, the girls hadn't really taken a liking towards Kensie – actually, they hadn't liked her all the much to begin with, but after a while, they gave up talking about that with Harry, who had been absolutely smitten with her. The guys hadn't really liked her since then, either, but what they and Georgia knew that Giovanna and Lara didn't about her recently made their liking of her even less.

Harry looked up from where he was standing with Libby – supporting her while she tried to stand on her own – and Kensie across the room from the door. She was completely annoyed and confused as to why his former band mates – and families – had just walked into their house. She hadn't seen any of them in about four years, and she felt it was far too soon to be seeing them again – especially in _her_ house.

"I invited them," he replied, bending down and turning the little girl around to face him, "didn't I Libby?" He nodded his head at her and she returned the gesture.

"What?" Kensie sounded infuriated. "Why would you do such a thing?"

Before Harry was able to tell her the plane and simple – that they were still his mates, no matter how hard she tried to make it otherwise – the girls were headed in their direction.

"If you'll excuse me," Harry began after having already greeted them, "I've got a one-year-old birthday girl to clean up." With that, he whisked his daughter off and was gone.

"You have a lovely home, Kensie," Georgia told her while switching her son to the other hip. "It's so kind of you to welcome us into your home – I mean, after _so many years_, it's so great to see you and Harry again." There was a chilling note to her tone as she spoke, but her words were friendly, so anyone just passing by wouldn't be able to notice without further observation.

"Uh… yes, it is. Oh, Connor! Don't do that!" Without a further word, she was gone.

"Georgia, what was that about?" Lara asked, a look of shock and excitement on her face. Giovanna nodded her agreement.

"Haven't you heard?" When the girls look at her, confusion now written on their faces, Georgia dropped her voice: "Well, you already know that she's the reason Harry left. And came back. Did you know she asked for a divorce? And that – at first – she wasn't letting him see the kids?"

The shock was evident on the other girls' faces, informing Georgia that they hadn't heard.

"I don't believe it. Harry's done everything she's ever wanted, that doesn't make any sense," Gi finally said, recovering from the initial shock.

"Well, I think there's more to it than meets the eye. I mean, all Harry's really said is that he's not sure what happened, but that something switched in her one day. But to suddenly ask for a divorce? Unless something happened all of a sudden – like she found out he was living a secret double life – I think there's way more to it than what Harry thinks."

"Like that she's having an affair. And that Libby's not really his –"

"She's his. Have you see that little girl's eyes?" Gi commented.

"Or that she's a Russian spy. Or she's really the man – _wo_man – behind Big Bird. Or she's an alien from Neptune. Or that she wants to get sex change." When Georgia and Gi gave her weird looks, Lara explained: "I'm married to Dougie and have a three month old. I don't exactly have much _me_-time."

* * *

"Harry, something's come up," Kensie said in way of greeting after Harry had answered the phone. It was the following Thursday and Harry was back in London. "There's been an emergency at work and I have to go out of town again." Though Harry could tell that that wasn't all the truth, never would he pass up being able to spend time with his children. "Can I drop Connor – Connor! Connor, stop hitting your sister! – where was I? Oh yes – can I drop Connor and Libby off on my way to the airport?"

"Do you really need to ask? It's been _days_ since I've seen them," Harry replied snidely.

"Right. We'll be there in twenty."

Almost exactly twenty minutes later, Kensie's car pulled up outside Danny and Georgia's. Once Harry was outside, he was instantly greeted by Connor wrapping his small arms around his dad's legs.

"Would you like to hug the rest of me, or are my legs good with you?" Harry laughed before peeling his son off his legs and giving the boy a proper hug. He then – Connor still in arms – walked down the length of the drive to where Kensie was just freeing the now-one-year-old girl from her car seat, opening the back hatch of the vehicle. "Connor, can you bring this inside for me, please? Mummy and I need to talk. I'll be in in just a minute – Auntie Georgia is waiting for you inside with Alex." Harry passed Connor the bag after putting him back on his feet, and then gently nudged him back towards the house, watching while he paused to say goodbye to his mum.

Harry pulled the two other bags he knew were for his children before pulling the hatch back down and walked over to where Kensie was now standing with Libby a few steps away.

"I'm really sorry about all this. I was just supposed to be heading into work, and then they called at the last minute that they needed me to go and meet with the client as they're having second thoughts." While Kensie spoke, she passed Libby to Harry. "And I was just going to bring them to my parents until I was able to talk to you a bit more and get them to bring the kids over later, but my Dad's not doing so well, and Mum wasn't home. Ah, I'm really sorry about how last minute this is."

"I'm not stupid, Kens. I can _usually _tell when you're making up elaborate stories. Give it up and get over whatever you think's going on – I haven't done anything. They're my kids, too – they need to have me in their lives, too – just as much as I need them in mine."

Kensie didn't really have anything to say to that. "Right, okay." She kissed Libby and then walked around the car, pulling open the door. "Well, I should be back Tuesday, but I'll let you know when I know." Without a further word, she cranked the engine and drove off.

* * *

_**an: **totally agreed. Kensie is nuts. who in their right mind would do all this? haha.  
thank you. :3_


	8. Tears

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own McFly._

* * *

**TEARS**

"Daddy? Who's that man Mummy's been playing with? I seen him… like – a-hundred times – in the last… like, three days." Connor's eyes were wide while he and his dad talked while they made their way on foot to Tom and Gi's.

Taking all this in, Harry found himself flabbergasted. "I – I…. You know, Connor, I honestly don't know. How about we talk to Mummy about it later, okay?"

Connor shrugged before running off ahead as Tom's front door opened from the other side, Giovanna and Georgia stepping outside, a rather reluctant Lara being pulled along behind them. Georgia and Gi had decided – after Libby's party – that they needed to give Lara some time to herself without having either Dougie or the baby nearby – and the guys agreed to look after all six – '"SIX KIDS!" Danny had cried "All under four!" – kids while the girls were out. It was her first time away from Brylee – her first time leaving the baby with Dougie for more than a few minutes – so it was pretty clear where her reluctance was coming from.

"Hey, Connor!" Gi greeted the three year old as they passed by. "Harry, the guys are in the living room."

"Alright. Have fun!" Harry called to the car while climbing the steps. After getting inside, he closed the door and followed after Connor, finding everyone where Gi had said they were.

The Judds hadn't even been in the house five minutes when Libby began to cry.

"Daddy, Libby thinks those is fur-rosh-is kitties!" Connor explained over Libby's wails before pulling the said animals away from her and playing with them with Briella. Libby had always been afraid of furry animals – especially cats. In his rush getting the kids ready to come over, Harry had completely forgotten about Tom's cats.

Within seconds of Libby crying, Dougie was also rewarded with a screaming baby – Brylee had been sound asleep in the baby carrier up until being rudely awakened.

Tom, thinking quickly – but not quite quickly enough – brought Nate out of the room, but before he was completely out of the room, the little boy was also screaming his lungs out. Danny was lucky in that he at least got to the kitchen before Alex started screaming.

"BRIE! Take Connor and the kitties and go play," Tom instructed his daughter, and then watched as the three year olds each picked up a cat – much to the cats' dismay, and leaving one behind – and left the room quickly.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER?" Dougie wailed, tears ready to spill, trying to be heard over both his own baby and the three others screaming within the house. "How do I make her stop?"

Ignoring Dougie somewhat, Harry explained to the other dads – Tom, mostly, as Danny wasn't within hearing distance, and Dougie was on the verge of having a meltdown of his own that could compete with his daughter's – of Libby's fear.

The next thing any of them knew, there was a loud bang, followed immediately by a shout of pain, and then more crying filled the house. Two shouting voices started approaching again – one full of tears – both wanting their daddies. Before either arrived, however, there was another cry of pain, and then both children stumbled in – Connor rubbing his head, where a bump was starting to form, Brie hopping as she tried to keep her now-cut knee safe from any more harm – and hurried to their dads, tears streaming down their faces.

"Great! Now all of them are against us!" Dougie was full on into panic mode.

Tom swooped his little girl up into his free arm before whisking both children out of the room. Some loud noises could be heard from the kitchen – particularly Alex picking back up from almost being calm and Tom apologising – before one of the sets of lungs stopped making the painfully loud noise.

"Okay, that's it," Harry said, giving up with trying to calm Libby down for the moment and coming up with an idea. "Doug – put Brylee back in that carrier!" he ordered. Once Dougie, somewhat shaken by the sudden outburst, had done as Harry instructed, Harry continued. "Calm down – take a deep breath. And stop _crying_!" After Dougie had once again followed Harry's instructions, he was given Libby. "Take her outside and be yourself. She'll calm down as long as she doesn't know there are furry animals around."

"Right, got it," Dougie replied, manning up a little with the order and slightly older baby who wasn't quite as upset as his own.

Harry picked Connor up, heading out to the kitchen with both the three year old and the three month old. There, he noticed that Nate was sat in his highchair, contently drinking from a bottle, Tom was tending to a tearful Briella, talking with her to calm her down even further, and Danny was trying to calm Alex down without any success.

Stopping Danny mid-pace, Harry handed Connor – still screaming himself – to his mate, taking Alex in turn. "Put ice on that bump, will you? I'll be back in a few minutes."

Harry then continued on to Tom's laundry room, placing Brylee's baby carrier on the drier, he started the machine, watching as it gently rocked the baby, calming her almost instantly, and, if it hadn't been for Alex still crying in the small room, she probably would have fallen back to sleep. As it was, she still whimpered while he cried.

Using the opportunity, Harry gently bounced the little boy he held in his arms. It was a few minutes longer before he, too, stopped crying, but as soon as Alex had stopped, Brylee quickly fell back to sleep, creating an all too quiet room, the only sound being the still-running dryer. While he waited a few extra minutes to ensure she really was asleep, Harry tickled the one-year-old's stomach, inducing a fit of giggles and a smile that instantly made him think of the boy's father when they had met many years earlier.

Turning the drier back off, Harry carefully lifted Brylee's carrier and headed back out to the kitchen, where both Brie and Connor were eating a bowl ice cream while still sat on the counter, a plaster covered one of her knees while Danny still held an icepack to the boy's head.

"It's so quiet now," Dougie commented from outside the backdoor, where he too held a calmed down infant. "Are all the cats and fuzzy animals away? I don't want any more tears right now."

"Briella, why don't you go take all the kitties to Mummy and Daddy's room?" Tom suggested as the little girl finished her ice cream. He lifted her back to the floor, and she scurried off. "Just a bit longer, Doug."

Harry chuckled at Dougie as he decided to make more faces and sounds at Libby, making her laugh, giving Alexander to his dad and placing Brylee next to Connor. He then took the icepack from Danny. "Connor, can you rock the baby, please? Nice and gently, yeah, you've got it." When Harry looked at the bump beneath the ice, he saw that the swelling had gone down. "How's your head?"

"Cold, Daddy."

"So you're feeling better then? Not going to run into any more walls?"

Connor nodded, then said, "No, Daddy. Can I go look for the kitties with Brie?"

"Sure you can, little buddy," Harry replied, putting his son on the floor.

"BRIE! WHERE ARE YOU?" Connor called out as he ran out of the room. Brylee whimpered a little at the loud noises, causing all four lads to freeze and look to the infant, but after a moment she was quite again, asleep.

A few minutes passed before the three year olds returned, informing Dougie that the coast was clear and that all the kitties were away, and then they – laughing – ran off again to resuming playing as Dougie brought Libby back inside.

* * *

_**an: **well, that was fun. Didn't mean to make it a WHOLE chapter, but... haha.  
Thank you so very much! :)_


	9. Honesty

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own McFly._

* * *

**HONESTY**

Tuesday came and went, so did Wednesday, as well as Thursday, all without a single word from Kensie. Connor kept asking Harry when his mum would be home or when she would call, but Harry didn't have an answer.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, Harry's mobile rang, the screen indicating that it was the mother of his children. Connor, who was colouring at the table next to the phone, quickly handed it to his dad, excitement evident.

"Why don't we give you parents a few minutes to talk, Connor, and you come help me put Alex and Libby down for their naps?" Georgia suggested, knowing that Harry needed to talk with his wife, taking the boy's hand and leading him from the room.

Harry smiled graciously after them as he pressed the button to begin the call. "It's been a week, Kensie. You better have a pretty good excuse as to why you haven't called. I've had to spend all week explaining to your son why his mother hasn't taken the time to pick up a phone to talk with him, and I just don't know why I even both making excuses for you."

"I'm sorry. I got in pretty late last night, and I was overwhelmingly busy all week."

"It's after one PM, Kensie. You couldn't have called this morning?"

"Like I've already said, I've been busy."

"Geez, Kens, get your priorities in order. You're letting your children – your son especially – down."

There was a long pause, the only indication that either was still there was the breathing that could faintly be heard. "Harry, I'm sorry – I've put a lot of thought into this over the past few months: I…I don't want to be a mother anymore. When the divorce goes through, the kids will be all yours."

At those words, Harry fell to a nearby chair, all the blood draining from his body, struggling to take a breath. To say he was shocked was putting it very mildly. Sure, he had been the one to take care of the kids most of their lives, but he had always thought that Kensie had loved being a parent just as much as he had. Now that the truth was other there – that she had been lying the whole time – he wasn't sure what he we supposed to feel, not sure how he was to feel.

This also confirmed the ideas that had been flanking his mind that Kensie had been having an affair ever since Connor had mentioned that he had seen another man around his mum a lot recently.

He didn't know how he was going to break it to Connor that his mum didn't want him and his baby sister anymore.

The phone clanked to the floor as Danny opened the backdoor. "Harry?" he asked, taking in the sight of his friend, "Are you alright, mate?" After determining for himself that Harry was anything but 'alright', Danny grabbed a paper bag off the counter, popped it open, and passed it to Harry, commanding him to "Breathe." He then got Harry a glass of water.

By the time Georgia returned with Connor, Harry had composed himself slightly. They put Connor on with his mother, and Harry walked away.

* * *

"Georgia! Harry!" Danny called from where he was knelt in the living room. He had the camcorder he and Georgia had purchased shortly after they found out Alexander was on his way out, trying to focus on both babies at once.

The requested two came bounding into the room, panic writing on Georgia's face. "Honey? What is it?"

"Look!"

The babies who, up until that moment, had been motionlessly standing up – which wasn't anything new, as they had been doing it a lot recently – began taking cautious – almost calculated – steps towards the other. If one of the babies fell, they would get right back up and continue on their way again.

When Libby and Alex met in the middle of the living room, having each conquered a few feet to get there, they threw their chubby little arms around the other and hugged – before both fell to their nappy-covered bums, still slightly – awkwardly – embraced.

Luckily for the three of them, Danny, who had been watching and playing with the toddlers, had anticipated the movements they were about to make, and caught the whole thing on tape.

When they were certain the young children were finished their walking expeditions for the time being, they cheered and cooed at the babies, celebrating that they had reached this new stage – excited also that it had happened together.

* * *

The weeks that followed flew by quickly. Harry received the divorce – and custody – papers early the following week, and, to him, that just made everything all the more official – he and his wife were really over after five years of marriage.

Because of all the so suddenly realness of the situation – and because he wanted to remain close with the guy this time – Harry found a house nearby – it was even on the same street as the others lived – to move his slightly smaller family into. He put the house he and Kensie had owned – which she had signed over to him in the divorce – on the market, and sold his portion of the music studio to business partner and manager – now that he had signed the divorce papers, he was done with the town.

After having decided to move his family to London, Harry enrolled Connor in the same school Briella attended, and while Connor hadn't really liked having to leave his mates back at home, he had accepted the change – after a bit of struggling at understanding what was happening – and happily went to school with Brie, his best mate.

When Harry had to tell Connor about Kensie not coming back, he took it surprisingly well. Connor had had a feeling his mum wasn't coming home, he'd explained, since he had talked with her a few days earlier – she hadn't told him, he was just smart enough to figure it out on his own. Connor had cried a lot in the beginning, but had recently found consonance with his big and supportive new family. Harry was proud of his little boy.

It was just after Harry had taken Connor and Brie to school when his world stopped flipping around, seeming to have returned to where it always should have been in the first place. He and Libby and Nate – who he was looking after for the morning – were at the coffee shop nearest the school. He had been about to push open the door when it happened.

"Harry? Harry Judd?" The voice, always familiar, sounded as though he's heard it just yesterday, though it had been more than seven years since he'd last heard her speak.

Izzy Johnson was standing just behind him when he turned around, looking beautiful as ever. Harry couldn't remember for the life of him why they had even broken up all those years ago in that moment – he knew they had been heading in different directions, but seeing her again brought back everything he had tucked away.

"I thought that was you," Izzy continued, a smile growing on her face.

"Izzy. It's been too long."

* * *

_**an: **Thank goodness for Izzy! :3  
Glad you like this, thank you for r+r-ing. :)  
There's only one left after this..._


	10. Pictures

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own McFly._

* * *

**PICTURES**

"Check this out," Tom chuckled as he walked through the kitchen door, carrying a happy Nate and a paper. He dropped the paper on the table in front of Harry and Dougie before putting Nate down in the attached dining room, which had been gated off for the infants, where Libby and Alex were already playing with each other. Brylee was asleep in a playpen just inside the kitchen.

Ever since that failed afternoon the former band had taken care of their children together, they had slowly brought the children back together while their wives were doing other things for longer and longer periods of time.

"What are we looking at?" Dougie asked as he flipped through the first few pages. He came to stop on a page with Harry and a couple babies. "Whoa! What's this?"

"What? That most of England has found out that my marriage is over?" Harry began after having read the caption, '_Former McFly drummer Harry Judd has been spotted recently with his children not wearing a wedding band, pictured here with a former flame'_. "Or that they think Dougie has a fear of small children – especially his own?"

"Wait. What?" The smile was instantly erased from Dougie's face as he examined the picture of himself – looking petrified – while he held out his screaming baby to his wife. Shaking his head, the smile returned. "Who's the bird?"

"Is that…. Is that Izzy Johnson?" Danny asked as he came around the table and peered down at the image on the page. "Geez, Harry, why didn't you tell anyone you ran into Izzy!"

Interrupting them before Harry could figure out what to say – he looked a little flustered just at the _mention_ of her name, let alone saying anything about his recent interactions with the former love of his life – Tom piped up. "That's not what I'm talking about," he told them, then pointed to the picture next to the other two, the one that had been sorely overlooked by his mates with the other two in the near proximity to it.

"And what are we thinking about this one?" Harry asked, tearing his eyes away from the image – a somewhat new picture of the four former band members. Ever since he had returned after his almost-four year absence, no one had known what to think about their former band – and it had been in the back of all their minds ever since they had come back together as friends.

"Honestly," Dougie began after a long pause, "I think this is what we've been waiting for." Everyone was focused on him as he stood and tended to his murmuring baby. Turning back around, he continued: "I mean, we had that band for a while, Tom, remember? But it wasn't what it could have been – especially when you began to focus on your family – and I didn't really care all that much to begin with anyways.

"And Danny went solo" – he paused to laugh a little at that – "for a while, and while his fans _loved_ it, it too wasn't what it was meant to be.

"And then there's Harry."

"What about me?"

"You had that music studio near where you lived. You clearly didn't want to give up music, either," Tom pointed out.

After having heard it that way, Harry couldn't deny where they were coming from. "But I didn't really care about the drumming in that studio," he explained, and then when it became clear, he added, "Not the way I was when I was drumming for the band."

It had been concluded perfectly: They had all tried something on their own, but in the end they were drawn back together. With their 'Yoko Ono' now official gone, there was nothing that was really stopping them from going back to how it was in the beginning – nothing except them, that was.

* * *

Nothing like what happened last time could happen again. No one could let a girl get between them again. No one would turn down the friendships of the others. Nothing could happen like it did, that would tear open the still-fresh wounds. They didn't want to have to deal with that, and they knew they wouldn't.

Months had passed. The papers occasionally asked the same question with new pictures: _'Are McFly on the return?'_ They never responded to any of the reporters that called to find out what the truth was. They were doing this on their own terms.

Harry smiled, looking up from the newspaper he was reading, as he heard the pitter-patters of bare feet on the tiled floor. A moment later, his little girl toddled in, closely followed by his girlfriend. If Harry thought he was happy before, with Kensie in his life, he had been sorely mistaken. He hadn't known quite what happiness had been without her – he had been fooling himself with Kensie.

"Hi-hi, Dada," Libby said as she pulled on his pant-leg, smiling up at him.

"Hello to you, too, beautiful little girl," he replied, picking the small girl up. He kissed his daughter before putting her in her highchair and giving her a couple handfuls of Cheerios. Turning to his girlfriend, he returned the smile. "Good morning, beautiful big girl," he added before kissing her and handing her a cup of coffee.

"Mmm, I could get used to this," she replied and then sat down at the table.

Ever since that day at the coffee shop, Harry and Izzy had slowly begun seeing each other again. They had wanted to take it extra slow this time, after what had happened last time and because of Harry's children – Harry had been ecstatic when both Connor and Libby had taken a liking to her. This was the first time Izzy had spent the night with Harry in all the months they had been dating again. Harry was glad they had finally taken that one step further.

"Is Connor at school already?" Izzy asked, a smile still lingering on her lips, while watching Libby play with her cereal.

Looking at his watch, he answered, "He should be on his way, if he's not. Giovanna took him and Briella. Oh, it's getting late. If you two hadn't gotten up soon, I wouldn't have gotten to see you before heading out."

"Oh right, everything's happening today, isn't it?" Izzy asked, turning away from Libby and smiling up at where Harry was stood partway between the two most important and beautiful women in his life. "Good luck!" she added jumping up and kissing him before he hurried out the door.

"It's almost time!" he cried as he rushed into Tom's living room. Danny was already sitting with Tom on one of the sofas in front of a laptop, but Dougie was nowhere to be seen.

Laughing, Tom replied, "We just said that! Now, where's Doug?" They waited a few more minutes before he finally turned up, looking as excited as ever.

"And," the youngest of the guys began, drawing out the word, "it's time! Launch it!"

With the click of a button, the webchat was launched . Announcements had been made earlier in the week informing anyone who was interested about the new site that they – they hadn't clarified just who _they _were though – were launching and the webchat. They had been sneaking around about it.

"Hey, everyone!" Tom cheered into the webcam on his laptop. "I can't believe how many people are already here! It's so great to already have so much support with this! As you can probably already tell, I'm in my living room."

There was a slight bang where Danny dropped a song book he had been messing with. "Oops."

Tom, using this as a cue – anything could be a cue with Danny – he turned the camera so Danny was now on screen, too

"Oh, uh, hi everyone! It's so great to be back here with you all! It's been too long since we've done this, eh?"

Tom laughed while picking up a guitar and plucking the strings at random.

"What'cha playing there, Tom? Everyone's curious." Danny asked after having read a couple comments from the webchat page.

"Oh, just something new. Shall we get on with it then?" he checked with Danny – and, in addition, Dougie and Harry, too – putting the guitar away again for its safety.

When Danny gave a nod, each of the guys mentally counted down. When they reached one, Dougie and Harry threw themselves at others, appearing on screen with their mates.

"HI, WE'RE MCFLY!" they cheered as one, "AND WE'RE BACK."

* * *

**FIN.**

_**an: ** Thank you for taking the time to read this and comment or follow it or whatever. It has meant a lot to me. I've very sorry it took me so very long to get this last one up - honestly, I was trying to break it into two, a final chapter and then an epilogue, but it just wasn't having it and I ran out of ideas, sadly. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you! xxx_


End file.
